Chapter 55 (To Die a More Glorious Death) Lin Wenxi Made Peace with Zhang Dong

The poem writing contest was considered to be the most challenging competition for liberal arts students, as most of them were not as talented as Cao Zhi. (Cao Zhi was an accomplished poet who lived in the late Han Dynasty in ancient China and was able to make a verse while taking seven steps.) A contestant had to write a poem in classical Chinese within 5 minutes on an assigned topic and then gave it to a hostess, who would read it out for the judges.

The topic for the first round of the contest was the wind.

Lin Wenxi was the last one to turn in his poem. The hostess read out all the poems one by one.

Here was Lin Wenxi's poem:

Flowers and bamboo trees danced beside the pavilion.

Clouds and wild geese flew away from the land.

Full-sail boats embarked on a long voyage.

I walked away leaving the changing ocean tides behind.

The judges spent 15 minutes reviewing all the poe